Speech story example

• Topic: Cliches, euphemisms and stereotypes:  http://journ300.blogspot.com/2015/09/cliches-euphemisms-stereotypes-and.html 
• Guidelines for deadline assignment next class: http://journ300.blogspot.com/p/assignments.html
• Drone-assisted local blogger Larry Kelley visits Tuesday, Oct. 4. Prepare questions to ask him. Review his blog at http://onlyintherepublicofamherst.blogspot.com

Speech story example

Published in the STEM Institute Fall 2016 newsletter

Laughing about Climate Change with Brian Adams

By Alexandra Pigeon

Students, professors and community members did the unthinkable on Tuesday afternoon at a STEM talk in Hasbrouck at UMass Amherst-- laugh at climate change.  

Brian Adams, a professor emeritus of environmental science at Greenfield Community College, displayed his unconventional approach to teaching and writing about global warming using humor in front of about 30 people during this event put on by the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Institute.

Adams recognizes that the subject is overwhelmingly devastating and alarming, which caused him to reevaluate his methods of teaching it. He feared that simply laying down the facts would drive his students into a deep depression, causing them to “weep into their cereal,” or worse, to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the issue altogether.

While Adams could not reiterate enough that “there is absolutely nothing funny about climate change,” mentioning ocean acidification, world-wide famine and the mass-extinction of our fellow Earth-inhabiting species as a few of the disastrous consequences, he made the claim that we should laugh at the matter to stay sane.

The first part of his presentation consisted of a series of “memes” that he unapologetically stole from the internet, meant to display the ridiculousness of being a climate-denier, or one who believes that global warming is not real.

Adams, pointing out that about 95 percent of the world’s scientists accept and have substantial evidence that climate change is, in fact, happening, used a quote from John Oliver, a political commentator and television host, to criticize all the attention given to debating this issue.

“One in four Americans is skeptical of climate change. Who gives a shit?” said Oliver. You don’t need people’s opinions on a fact.” To constantly debate the issue is to suggest that there is equal weight to both sides of the argument, which is not the case, said Adams.

To those who still do not acknowledge the facts, Adams uses a poster from the Occupy movement to reason with them, pleading that they think logically about what makes more sense: environmental groups and activists everywhere using their limited funds to conspire with the majority of the world’s scientists to create a hoax that could destroy the global economy, or big oil companies using their outrageous profit to bribe anyone they can to protect their future profit.

Making the necessary changes to stop and reverse the effects of global warming would not only be devastating to the profit of the oil companies, but for the average citizens would drastically change life as we know it, he said.

“We are all addicts. We have a profound addiction to fossil fuels,” Adams said, admitting that he drove his 2001 Prius held together only by bumper stickers to the talk rather than choosing a “green” alternative form of transportation like a bus.

However for the most part, he makes a significant effort to live environmentally-friendly, he said.

He once made a comment to a stranger in a parking lot who left their car idling, secretly fighting the urge to slash his tires, he said. This behavior revealed a resemblance between him and Casey, the protagonist of his book “Love in the Time of Climate Change (2014).”

This novel is one of the few that represent a new genre of fiction referred to as “Cli-Sci Rom-Com (Climate-Science Romantic-Comedy),” which Adams himself pioneered. His stories use humor and romance to address the daunting topic of climate change and its catastrophic effects on the world.

In an act of “shameless self-promotion,” Adams read an excerpt from his novel in which Casey, a community college professor with “Obsessive Climate Disorder,” ruins a romantic encounter because of his inability to focus on anything other than the energy-wasting going on around him.

There is a risk in writing humor because people might not think you’re funny, or may even take offense, Adams said. “But I honestly believe it’s a way to reach people who would never read nonfiction about climate change.”

His second novel, “Kaboom” (2016), tells the tale of two teenage girls who become activists when their favorite mountain is threatened by a method of coal extraction that uses dynamite to blow mountaintops off.  

The small classroom where the talk took place provided an intimate environment that allowed for discussion among Adams and his listeners.

Audience member Sue Bridge, founder of the local WildSide Gardens, commented on the strange phenomenon that people are not coming together to fix the mess we have gotten ourselves into. She recalls growing up during World War II when everybody rationed, grew their own gardens and lived responsibly in a transformative way, wondering why we aren’t doing so now.

“I think he was right how people get scared away because it’s such a heavy subject, that we all could die someday because of this,” journalism student Caroline McCann said of Adams.

Biology Professor Jeff Podos, also in the audience, brought some positivity to the table saying that in the past 10 years he has seen significantly more awareness on the issue and strides taken to make a difference, especially at UMass Amherst. The school has proven its position as a leader in sustainability across the nation by divesting from investments in fossil fuel companies and receiving numerous awards for being a “top green college campus,” Podos said.

“I’m optimistic that all of us can rise to the challenge,” Adams said.